MVC Championships: Day Four Prelims

02/20/2016 | 12:00:00 | Swimming & Diving

Feb. 20, 2016

By Elizabeth Robinson
SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The 2016 MVC Swimming and Diving Championships are far from over as competition remains tight heading into the last finals session on Saturday night. Fourteen Saluki swimmers qualified for Saturday's finals following the morning's preliminary races, plus five Salukis who will compete in the 1,650-yard freestyle.

Both Missouri State and SIU qualified 14 swimmers for Saturday's finals, but SIU's five in the 1,650 free tops the Bears' three. Southern will also have both Kaixuan `Sherry' Zhang and Rachel Williams competing in the A Final for the 3-meter dives.

SIU started the day with a strong performance by junior Sarah James in the 200-yard backstroke. James finished first in the preliminary race at 1:59.67, breaking the all-time SIU record that she previously held at 2:00.60. At last year's MVC Championships, James broke the school record in prelims and ranked second all-time with her 2:01.10 finish in the finals. James now holds the top three all-time finishes in the 200-yard backstroke in program history.

Seniors Morgan Timms and Katy Ovington will also compete in tonight's 200-yard butterfly finals, Timms as the No. 8 seed in the A Final and Ovington in the B Final.

The Salukis' strength in the freestyle was displayed in the 100-yard freestyle race as all five competing Salukis qualified for tonight's finals. Senior McKenna Avery took SIU's top time, coming in at 51.32 for third place. She will be joined by Oliwia Okaj and Chandler Ott in tonight's A Final, while Riley Schroedter and Kristina Ksarjian will swim in the B Final.

Both the 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard butterfly will feature two Salukis in Saturday night's A Finals. Emma Brazeau and Liane Tatigian will compete in the breaststroke race after finishing fourth and eighth, respectively. Audrey Snyder and Nicole Fuller finished fifth and eighth to swim in the 200-yard butterfly A Final. Abby Kresal and Jordan Ries qualified for B Finals, Kresal in the 200-yard breaststroke and Ries in the 200-yard backstroke.

Tonight's 1,650-yard freestyle will include Nicole Fuller, Helena Amorim, Kelsie Walker, Bryn Handley and Lauren Stockton. Walker is the defending MVC Champion after finishing in 16:33.88 at last year's championships.

The last finals session of the MVC Championships will begin at 4 p.m. at Shea Natatorium, and will feature finals from each of today's prelims along with the 400-yard freestyle relay to end the night. Only 37.5 points separates Missouri State and Southern Illinois heading into tonight's finals. SIU's last MVC Championship team title came in 2007 when SIU topped Missouri State 894-807.5. Missouri State has won the championship title every year since.

Event results will be posted on SIU's Championship Central page in real-time, along with photo galleries and complete results at the conclusion of the day. Follow along with @SIU_SwimDive on Twitter for updates throughout the night.